Summary:You are a gardener, tending to empty noise and empty space to fill them both with colour. You are a refugee, building your own world away from the spreading darkness. You are an explorer, discovering new places, new rules, and new fascinations. The universe is bigger than you know.

That rare kind of game that treats you with respect, once you’ve earnt it. It’s a strange feeling to be left floundering without any attempt to help you up, but it’s stranger still to then discover that you’re perfectly capable of helping yourself up, and discovering how capable you really are. Starseed Pilgrim is quietly affirming, and eminently rewarding. It’s genuinely beautiful, from the inside and out.

Put simply, this is a game in which you get out what you put in. It is incremental in its brilliance. It is a game of pure mechanics and of player skill. It's confusing in a good way and difficult in the best way. From a game design perspective it is perfect, but the ambiguity will definitely push some players away.

Starseed Pilgrim is composed of interesting elements and neat twists, but suffers from the assumption that you can encourage exploration simply by refusing to tell the player what to do. [Aug 2013, p.73]

Maybe I went into this with too high expectations having read the hype around it, but this game was a real disappointment. Designing for theMaybe I went into this with too high expectations having read the hype around it, but this game was a real disappointment. Designing for the joy of discovery is a very strong goal and I don't fault the game for that, but what I do fault the game for is intentionally obscuring itself.

If there is one thing I want a game to do, it is to respect my time. That doesn't mean I don't want to get lost, and I don't want any hand holding, and it doesn't even have to be fun, but I also don't want a game that intentionally seems to be wasting my time. The game asks a lot, doesn't really give you much back; a deal that doesn't have much upside for the player.…Expand

The game explains very little and lets you discover its mechanics, which are very well thought out and require a great deal of thinking. ThisThe game explains very little and lets you discover its mechanics, which are very well thought out and require a great deal of thinking. This is a very difficult game, every action you take have intricate consequences.…Expand

I could not make heads or tails of this game. The lack of direction, the confusing mechanics, make this a very hard game to get into. MaybeI could not make heads or tails of this game. The lack of direction, the confusing mechanics, make this a very hard game to get into. Maybe this appeals to some people, but not me. I probably could have enjoyed it more if I wasn't dying over and over and restarting from the beginning each time...…Expand

Metacritic critic reviews give this an 83. I don't understand that. I didn't put a ton of time into this game, but I quickly lost interestMetacritic critic reviews give this an 83. I don't understand that. I didn't put a ton of time into this game, but I quickly lost interest trying to learn what was going on, and didn't understand what I was trying to do despite quite a bit of trial and error. Some people like games that are ambiguous and frustrating - making you feel like if you suffer through the start of the game for long enough you might eventually be rewarded with some understanding. If so, this game may be for you. My backlog has too many other options.…Expand

A friend told me to try this game. "Don't google it, just play it." Well, I did, and if you have a lot of time to waste figuring out what theA friend told me to try this game. "Don't google it, just play it." Well, I did, and if you have a lot of time to waste figuring out what the goal of this game is (after ~5 hours I haven't) then maybe it's worth a try. I can't recommend it to anyone who has a life.…Expand

People say "You need to experience this game for yourself." They behave in an obtuse manner, as if there is some grand secret there, somethingPeople say "You need to experience this game for yourself." They behave in an obtuse manner, as if there is some grand secret there, something that is wonderous that is just hidden away.

They're lying. There isn't anything here.

The game is garbage. You plant seeds. They grow. There are some mechanics related to them - the pink seeds can be harvested for more seeds. The bush sprouts heart flowers which can be collected when you go into the void. The orange block's growth is dependent on whether it has space to grow horizontally. The red one explodes outwards in blocks and will throw you into the void if you stand too close.

Your goal is to get to the void star blocks - not the one on the bottom, but ones which are off isolated on far edges of the screen. These turn into keys when you step into them, but unless you have brought your blocks up adjacent to it, you'll have no way out.

Once you grab your key, you can go back to the start and go back into the main world, where you can plant seeds and grow to reach other areas with bits of esoteric poetry hanging in the sky.

There's a hidden block with three little stars in it which spawns a three keyhole exit. Bringing three keys to it will let you unlock some secret levels which can then be navigated to completion.

There are a number of levels in the game, and they all LOOK the same, but are functionally slightly different. The void doesn't absorb you in some. You can't destroy blocks in others. The list goes on.

The way they describe it, it seems like an unlocking, unfolding type game, but it isn't. It is just the very basic growing mechanics which the game is obtuse about. That's the limit of the discoveries in the game.